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Razorbill auk

Onglets

Distinguishing features

The razorbill auk has white underparts and a black back. Its bill is broader than that of the common murre. The male and female are identical in appearance.

Reproduction

The female produces a single offspring once a year. Incubation takes 33 to 39 days. The young normally stay in the nest for 18 days and are cared for by both parents, who usually mate for life. They disappear offshore, with the male, in late July, before even learning to fly.

Diet

Razorbill auks eat small fish, such as capelin and sand lances.

Predators

The enemies of the adults are raptors, including peregrine falcons. They may also be attacked by large gulls and large fish. The eggs and young are eaten by Arctic foxes, red foxes, crows and sometimes gulls.

Habitat

They dwell offshore in the North Atlantic subarctic sea. They build their rudimentary nests out of plant debris and pebbles on wide ledges or scree-covered slopes along sea cliffs.

Ecology, behaviour

Small colonies of these birds sometimes join large colonies of common murres. In winter, razorbill auks spend 8 to 9 months on the open sea without ever returning to land. Like other birds in the Alcidae family, they occupy an ecological niche in the Arctic similar to that taken in Antarctica by penguins. They dwell in cold seas, feeding on fish, using their short wings for propulsion.